Photo: Davist898 · CC BY-SA 4.0Brookings’ library logs 5.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Chetco Community Public Library serves 15,110 people in and around Brookings. Last year it lent 112K print books and media and logged 83K visits.
What stands out about Chetco Community Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Brookings’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Brookings is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #46 of 106 in Oregon. Brookings is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Brookings’ count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
34 community nonprofits are registered in Brookings
5.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.1%
9.1% of Brookings’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical Oregon town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Brookings’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 44 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chetco Community Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Chetco Community Public Library serves 15,110 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Books and media off the shelf
112K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Chetco Community Public Library, 405 Alder St., Brookings.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Chetco Community Public Library branch.
New in Brookings? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.89 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Brookings cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 9,375 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Chetco Community Public Library serves 15,110 people in and around Brookings, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Brookings.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Brookings
Does Brookings have a public library?
Yes. Chetco Community Public Library, 405 Alder St., serves 15,110 people in and around Brookings (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chetco Community Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Brookings’ library?
It logged 5.5 visits and lent 7.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Brookings’ civic life grade?
A− Brookings is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #46 of 106 in Oregon. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Brookings.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.